EV indicator vs EV Mode indicator

Are you asking about the Prius v wagon?

 

Prius V owners, are you consistently able to get the EV indicator to turn on at highway speeds by lifting your foot off the gas completely and then pressing it back gently so the gas comes just under the first green line in the hybrid display? I just got my Prius V on Sunday. That night and on Monday, I was able to get the EV indicator on (turn the gas engine off) at highway speeds when gliding. For some reason, today I could get the indicator on on the highway, and I had plenty of battery charged up. Therefore, my mpg kept dropping on the highway, whereas the previous days, it kept climbing.

Any idea what this is about, Prius v veterans?

 

My EV indicator will only come on when I'm under ~45mph. Any speed above that and the indicator will not come on even if I'm coasting down a hill without my foot on the gas pedal.

 

I can get EV to come on up to 43 MPH. I am in ECO, I have never pressed the EV button.

 

"Eco" mode is the button you push - telling the computer to remap the throttle response to assist in giving you better fuel milage and altering the AC usage and fan speeds...
"ECO" green flag on the dash next to 'throttle' indicator - is telling you that you are driving the car in an economic way...meaning that you are getting the most you can (given there's a range in which this works)...
EV - the white flag - is only on below 45mph when the gas engine is off. this is "Electric Vehicle" mode... when you are only on electric power.

EV cannot come on above 45 mph, or your gearing would have exploded. The tiny planetary gears in the transmission begin to over rev at about 46-48mph... which is why they fire up the gas engine - which is attached to their carrier ...
they then control the rpm of the electric motor - to control the gear ratio to the gas engine....as the gas engine supplies most of the working torque...to drive the car.

it's all done through a planetary gear set which is one of the simplest setups - however - it's also one of the most complex to try to explain. but it is physically impossible to be in EV above 45 mph. which is also why they tell you not to flat tow the car - as the transmission would explode... spinning those planetaries.

 

Agree with the EV not working "normally" over 43 mph, however no transmission "explosions" have been reported. My 08 ran 60 mph in EV mode for over a mile when I let the car run out of gas because of it's inconsistent gas gauge/tank bladder design.

 

Thanks everyone. I was probably imagining something that wasn't happening because I was just figuring the car out. There's a lot more stuff to look at on a Prius!

 

No, it's not going to explode. The system is designed to deliver sustained travel at 100 km/h (62.1 mph).

The catch is having enough electricity to draw from the battery-pack to actually do it. For the plug-in, you've got 38 kW available for that. Once depleted, it drops to 27 kW, hence the max EV speed being reduced to 46 mph at that point.



As for the towing, you don't want to with the front wheels down because it generates electricity. You'd overcharge the battery-pack doing that.

 

I found the EV indicator works below 46mph, though sometimes it takes a release of the throttle and then gas back again to get it to light up. When coming down from higher speeds say 50mph to 45, it does not come on right away. Almost like the system needs some time to determine its in the proper speed range. Getting into a EV stealth mode below 42mph usually takes a couple of attempts, while staying on the mode is based on the traffic behind you or if you could keep to the left of the HSI mid line. I find on level ground that one could keep the vehicle at the same speed at 39-40mph in the EV stealth mode. Any more, you have to powerup and glide. Anyone? Theres nothing like a couple mile cruise in EV stealth to improve your mileage. Dealing with declining battery power is another issue...

 

This is all very interesting. What is EV stealth mode? Please link me elsewhere if it has already been discussed.

I too am figuring out just how often I can get EV mode on.

 

Good article on Warp and EV stealth modes.
http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/warpstealth.html


Good video on EV & mileage techniques
Max MPG Driving Techniques Youtube Video | PriusChat

 

The difference between EV and Stealth is speed & power. Notice how EV mode is limited to 25 mph but you have more power available? It's 46 mph for Stealth, but the energy on the Eco-Meter is only half. It boils down to battery-pack draw, which even in the plug-in model differs between the two... which again, speed & power vary.

Long story short, there are 2 electric-only modes.

 

Newbie to the forum... I too found myself striving to light up the EV indicator while traveling within the 0-45 mph range in my 2013 V three. Unfortunately, the display no longer shows the icon. Any ideas as to why that might be?

 

You may have turned off some icons by pressing display to get "SET" where MPG normally shows, then you can change things with some more button presses.. Check how to customize display in the owner's manual.

Also, I recommend striving to light up the EV icon under 47 MPH mostly when you are going down hill or don't mind slowing down a little on an EV glide. I find that it just uses up the battery power too fast driving normal AND trying keeping the power level in the EV range.

Do you let off the gas for a split second to get the EV icon/mode on? Works great for me after ICED gets to 130F.